RIPPED OFFDeparting the Pit Stop in first place at 2:50am, hockey brothers Bates & Anthony ripped open their first clue instructing them to make their way to Dresden, Germany. When they arrived, they had to make their way to the Ministry of Finance and choose an all-new Ford Fusion where they would find their next clue. All five teams boarded a 5:26am train at the Interlaken-West station bound for Basel, Switzerland. At 6:47am, while most teams slept, Bates woke up and started searching the train car for his backpack that mysteriously disappeared. He woke his brother, Anthony, as other racers also stirred at the commotion. After a thorough search, nobody could find Bates’ bag, leading all to believe it had been stolen. However, Bates still had his passport and the team’s fanny pack so he commented, “I’m not too worried about it. I’m gonna be so much faster now.” Bates also declined when Jennifer offered her underwear for him to borrow, but he admitted, “It could come in handy on those lonely nights.”

POP QUIZAfter taking a flight from Basel, teams landed in Dresden, Germany and jumped in taxis heading to the Ministry of Finance. Newlyweds Max & Katie arrived first and ripped open a clue they took from the windshield of a Ford Fusion. Teams now had to get behind the wheel of a Ford Fusion and use the Audible Text feature of the SYNC with MyFord Touch system to correctly answer three Race-inspired questions. When they came up with the right answers, they would have their next clue. With Max in the driver’s seat and Katie in the backseat directly behind him, the newlyweds touched the MyFord Touch home screen and listened to their first incoming text message, “Which U.S president said, ‘Tear down this wall?’” Max instantly blurted out John F. Kennedy before realizing they would have three choices – Kennedy, Reagan, or Clinton. Without taking another moment to reconsider, Max touched choice #1, Kennedy, and sent the text back. When the system told Max that his answer was incorrect, he immediately knew it was Reagan and resubmitted. Max later said, “I’m so embarrassed because Ronald Reagan was my favorite president. I’m definitely the cigar chomping, Republican conservative.” Max had no difficulties answering the second question, “Which world leader did President Reagan direct it to?” After answering Mikhail Gorbachev, Max & Katie listened to the third question, “Where did President Reagan say it?” While Max wasn’t quite as sure this time, he again answered correctly when he submitted the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. This meant that teams now had to drive themselves over 100 miles to the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany where President Reagan gave his historic speech that called for the Soviet Union to tear down the Berlin Wall.

A NEW PLANAs Max & Katie drove off towards Berlin in their Ford Fusion in first place, Caroline & Jennifer and Joey & Meghan both jumped into their cars to begin the three question quiz. Before receiving any choices, the Youtube hosts had no idea who made the iconic statement, and Meghan threw out Roosevelt’s name. However, she suspected this took place in the 80’s, and she correctly guessed Reagan when the options appeared. With Meghan taking control in her car, Jennifer did the same when a stumped Caroline deferred to her friend. Both Meghan and Jennifer led their teams through all three questions just as Mona & Beth and Bates & Anthony arrived in the parking lot. Seeing Bates & Anthony, Jennifer asked Caroline if they should wait for the hockey brothers, but Caroline told Jennifer to drive away because the country singers planned on putting themselves first in this leg before helping their friends. The country singers’ plan of independence proved short-lived. On the autobahn, Bates & Anthony caught up to Caroline & Jennifer, and the two teams drove together to Berlin. Caroline said, “It’s actually comforting to have the boys behind us. We know we’re racing, and we’re trying to play harder.” Circling around the confusing city streets, the two teams stopped their cars and asked a local for directions to the gate. Bates & Anthony took better notes from the local than the country singers, so they offered to lead. This arrangement came to a halt when Bates & Anthony went through a yellow light, leaving Caroline & Jennifer stopped when it turned red. Since the hockey brothers had the directions, the country singers had to stop at a hotel to ask for help. Jennifer later said, “The boys were just doing what they wanted to do. I was just kind of disappointed.”

TAKE THE PLUNGEAfter picking up their clue in first place at the Brandenburg Gate, newlyweds Max & Katie drove to the Park Inn Hotel and rode the elevator to the rooftop still unclear about finding their next clue. At the top, they found that they were about to base fly, plunging 37 stories to the ground, where the jumpmaster would hand them their next clue. After gearing up, Katie walked across a narrow catwalk that led over the edge of the hotel’s roof. As she stood facing the ground 30 stories below her, she thought aloud, “What are we doing?” She was then hoisted up on a crane and dangled precariously in midair with nothing but a cable attached to a harness to support her weight. Suddenly, the cable slackened completely, and she plummeted parallel to the 30-story building at full speed only slowing to a stop with 10-20 feet to spare. While Katie was nearly silent during her descent, Max screamed out loud and later described the experience as feeling “like I tripped off the edge” of a building.

LETTER CARRIERSReturning to solid ground, Max & Katie ripped open their clue to find a Detour, having the choice of Train Trials or Font Follies. Train Trials required teams to travel to the Deutsches Technikmuseum, home to Berlin’s foremost collection of locomotives and railcars, where they had to use all of the provided pieces to lay miniature train tracks within the borders of a wooden platform. If they can keep their model train on track for one complete circuit, the train conductor would hand them their next clue. Font Follies required teams to transport two giant letters of the alphabet to Berlin’s Museum of Letters. First, they had to make their way to a market stand, choose their letters, and then carry the cumbersome cargo through the city streets without shattering any of them. If they delivered the letters intact, the museum curator would hand them their next clue. As Joey & Meghan both screamed at the top of their lungs when plummeting from the Park Inn Hotel rooftop, Max & Katie arrived at the marketplace filled with giant letters blinking in the familiar yellow and red Race colors. Knowing that they couldn’t switch letters once they made their choice, the newlyweds took their time to think about their decision. After some consideration, Katie took a lower case b so she could put her head and shoulders inside the circle. Likewise, Max chose a lower case o and also put his head through the middle. This allowed the newlyweds to move quickly as they jogged through the city looking for the museum. While the Youtube hosts drove to the train museum, the roller derby moms Mona & Beth choose to deliver letters, and Bates & Anthony once again met up with their friends Caroline & Jennifer at the Park Inn Hotel. After both teams plunged to the ground, they teamed up to find the marketplace together, although Caroline later expressed some reservations, saying, “I was not totally excited about Bates & Anthony joining up with us. I didn’t want it to come down to us racing them for last place.” After asking for directions to the Buchstaben Museum to deliver their letters, the newlyweds continued walking through the streets until they reached a shopping mall. Walking inside with their gigantic letters, the newlyweds rode the escalator and found the small, hidden museum that Max described as a place where nerds go to “smoke a pipe.” They dropped off their letters perfectly intact. Ripping open their next clue, Max & Katie now had to drive to the Salon Zur Wilden Renate and search the entrance to the Peristal Singum to find the next clue.

CHOO-CHOOYoutube hosts Joey & Meghan arrived at the Deutsches Technikmuseum and began assembling their miniature train tracks. Joey warned Meghan, “Don’t make the corners too sharp because the train will fly off.” Joey later commented that it felt “like Christmas” to build a toy train track, but once he and Meghan finished their creation they weren’t feeling too merry. On their first attempt, the train derailed in a matter of seconds. On their second go, it made its way through a tunnel and around a bend, but then the locomotive derailed when it hit a tree. Finally, on their seventh attempt, just as a nervous Joey begged the “train god” to be with them, the locomotive made its way around the track to complete the circuit with the team in third place. CRACKING UP With Mona & Beth delivering their letters in second place, Bates & Anthony and Caroline & Jennifer now worked together as they unknowingly battled for last. At the marketplace, the country singers made a tactical error by choosing lower case letters s and k, choices difficult to carry. After walking through the streets unable to find the museum, the foursome stopped to ask a local for directions. Leaving his letter unguarded while soliciting help, Anthony looked up when he heard a crash and then saw his letter v on the ground with a giant crack in it. Forced with the prospect of returning to the market to get a new letter, the hockey brothers instead chose to switch Detour tasks and hopped into a taxi bound for the Deutsches Technikmuseum. Caroline & Jennifer went on to deliver their letters in fourth place. Knowing he and his brother were in last place, Bates said, “We could be in serious trouble.”

A-MAZE-ING WINArriving to the Salon Zur Wilden Renate in first place, a bartender pointed the couple to the entrance of the Peristal Singum, where they found a Roadblock. In it, one team member had to first identify who said the famous quote “Ich bin ein Berliner”. Then, they would immerse themselves in a theatrical maze under the Salon Zur Wilden Renate. Crawling their way through this twisted labyrinth, they had to locate the white room where they would find their next clue. After correctly identifying President John F. Kennedy as the speaker of the famous quote, Katie walked through a door that led into total darkness before dimly colored lights illuminated a creepy scene. Walking past odd masks and freaky objects, Katie later said she expected someone to jump out at her, calling it “a nightmare.” Passing an eerie doll and rows of shoes, Katie blindly walked up a staircase still in near total darkness, opened a door, and found light as she entered the white room where clues were hanging on the wall. Running out of the labyrinth, she reunited with Max and ripped open the next clue instructing them to find the next Pit Stop at the Kurfurstendamm, known as the 5th Avenue of Berlin. In the lead since landing in Dresden, newlyweds Max & Katie stepped on the mat in first place at the Kurfurstendamm to win their first leg of the Race along with two all-new 2013 Ford Fusions. A stunned Max kissed his bride and asked, “Are you kidding me?” LOST IN BERLIN As Bates & Anthony tried to keep their train on track, roller derby moms Mona & Beth slowly felt the Race slipping away. The moms couldn’t find the salon and continued driving unable to read their map or the street signs. Beth, who was driving, commented, “I’m so frustrated with myself right now. I’ve never been so hopelessly lost in my life.” As the moms roamed the streets of Berlin, Joey and Jennifer both worked their way through the creepy labyrinth at the Roadblock while Bates & Anthony watched their train make a complete circuit at the Detour. Mona & Beth stopped at a hostel to ask for directions, as a dejected Beth said, “I’m sure we’re the last team.”

RUN FOR YOUR LIFEWith Joey & Meghan and Caroline & Jennifer finishing the leg in second and third places respectively, Mona & Beth reached the salon in fourth only minutes ahead of Bates & Anthony. Taking extra time to ask patrons about the famous quote spoken by JFK, Beth entered the labyrinth mere moments ahead of Anthony, and after the long day, the pair decided to work together to find the white room. Beth later said, “It just helped to have somebody else there, but I was really nervous. We’re down to the wire here.” Soon, the duo walked up the winding staircase and opened the door to reveal the white room and their clues. Exiting the labyrinth and salon together, Mona & Beth and Bates & Anthony knew they were the last two teams. Anthony suggested to his brother that they simply follow the roller derby moms to the Pit Stop and beat them in a foot race. The hockey brothers didn’t lose sight of Mona & Beth for the entire drive as a frustrated Beth said, “I don’t want to go out like this.” Pulling up to the Kurfurstendamm, both teams got out of their cars as Bates instructed Anthony, “Run for your life.” In a short sprint to the mat, Bates & Anthony outran Mona & Beth as Mona complained, “That sucks. We led them here.” With Bates & Anthony claiming fourth place, Mona & Beth became the last team to arrive at the Pit Stop. When Phil told them that this was a non-elimination leg, the roller derby moms jumped up and down and hugged with relief and excitement. Mona later commented, “I’m confident we can come back, but Bates & Anthony are definitely a problem still being in the Race.” Beth added, “We gotta use any way to get ahead of them.”

2209 ROUTE MARKERSRoadblock: A Roadblock is a task that only one person can perform. In this Roadblock, that person had to first identify who said the famous quote “Ich bin ein Berliner”. Then, they would immerse themselves in a theatrical maze under the Salon Zur Wilden Renate. Crawling their way through this twisted labyrinth, they had to locate the white room, where they would find their next clue.

Performed Roadblock: Katie, Joey, Jennifer, Anthony, Beth

Detour: In this Detour teams had the choice of Train Trials or Font Follies. Train Trials required teams to travel to the Deutsches Technikmuseum, home to Berlin’s foremost collection of locomotives and railcars, where they had to use all of the provided pieces to lay miniature train tracks within the borders of a wooden platform. If they can keep their model train on track for one complete circuit, the train conductor would hand them their next clue. Font Follies required teams to transport two giant letters of the alphabet to Berlin’s Museum of Letters. First, they had to make their way to a market stand, choose their letters, and then carry the cumbersome cargo through the city streets without shattering any of them. If they delivered the letters intact, the museum curator would hand them their next clue.

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